


Consorting With the Enemy

by TinselPyre



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, The Enchanted Forest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2018-12-30 15:51:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12112086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinselPyre/pseuds/TinselPyre
Summary: Enchanted Forest AU. Princess Emma has just been named heir to her mother’s throne, meanwhile across the sea Cora takes this news as an opportunity to manipulate the royals and enhance her only daughter’s station in life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own OUAT

**Greetings,**

**By Royal invitation this here by gains you, King Xavier of Quivira Second of his name and all those of his line, entry to the Winter Palace of Queen Snow and Prince David on the eve of the solstice for a grand ball.**

**Queen regnant Snow of the house White First of her name**

  

       Cora tightened the corset around her daughter's waist, preparing her like a lamb for slaughter Regina thought. The invitation that had come to her uncle a month earlier had the older woman prattling on for weeks now and Cora was quickly losing patience with her uninterested daughter. There had been rumors amongst the servants that this was not just a normal ball to celebrate the winter solstice, but was in fact a way of seeking out potential suitors for the daughter of Queen Snow and Prince David, who had come of age not two months prior. Regina had always assumed that her mother would have arranged for her to marry a distant cousin or some noble man with in the heptarchy. But why marry one of them when you have the opportunity to marry the throne, she mimicked her mother's voice in her head. Despite past tensions between their families the moment Princess Emma was named heiress to her mother's throne that made her a suitable match for Regina.

"Mama, cousin Vicente is second in line to Uncle Xavier's crown, if the White kingdom were to want an alliance surely he would be the more favorable choice," she said wincing as her mother pulled the corset ties tighter.

"Politically speaking yes, but my intel from that area has informed me that the princess prefers a more delicate touch," she smirked as she gave a final sharp tug to the strings. Only a handful of people know the true reason behind this soiree, that puts us at an advantage to gain Princess Emma's affections over the other maidens."

Regina was not exactly one for competitions and the prospect of competing for the attentions of the princess made her uneasy, particularly at the thought of competing with family. Regina had seven female cousins three of whom were, like herself, unmarried although she hardly thought little Dortea would be a suitable choice for Princess Emma.

"Certainly there are more suitable women, women who are more sure of their interests." While Regina admitted the prospect of a female relationship was not altogether unappealing, the only time she had ever felt her heart swell at the mere thought of someone had been her riding instructor Daniel. A relationship that her mother had swiftly put a stop to. "What if I do not have feelings for her?"

"Regina darling marriage is hardly about one's affections, it is about one's life trajectory." 

"But you just said...

"Do not correct me Regina," Cora said gripping her daughter's chin none too gently. "Queen Snow will settle for nothing less than total love and devotion for her daughter, gain **her** affections and you will control the crown. Trust me sweetheart I have your best interest in mind," she said kissing her daughter's forehead which unfortunately did nothing to ease the younger brunette's anxiety.

Cora's talk of convenient yet loveless marriages pained her heart, she had always suspected that her parents did not have a marriage of love, particularly given her mother's cold indifference to people, but this final confirmation hurt her dearly.

       Princess Emma stood out on her balcony feeling the crisp air on her face while watching as a line of foreign royals and dignitaries a mile long made their way onto her parents land. She smiled as she saw the banner man proudly hoisting the sigil of King Thomas knowing this meant her best friend Princess Alexandra had finally arrived.

"How many do you think there are?" Asked her brother Prince Benjamin.

"I do not know, she must of sent out at least a hundred invitations."

"That is definitely more than a hundred people." 

Emma was no fool, she understood exactly why her mother and father had invited kingdoms they barely associated themselves with on a regular basis to their winter palace. It was meant to be an arrangement, whether or not her parents had a particular individual in mind though was still a mystery to the blonde. Ever since she had been named heiress to her mother's throne over her brother she had been thrust into a world of meetings and discussions about personal responsibility and most importantly responsibilities to their people. It was all very tedious thought Emma not at all what she had expected when she was being tucked in bed at night listening to stories of brave rulers facing terrible odds and treacherous monsters only to come out victorious.

"Princess Emma Prince Benjamin what are you two doing up here?" Said the elderly Johanna. "You should be in the throne room greeting your guests. Especially you Princess, now that the people know you are to ascend your mother's crown it is important to impose a powerful presence." 

"We were just heading down now Johanna", lied Benjamin, of which the nanny easily saw through.

"Yes, Yes I am sure of that," she replied licking a handkerchief and wiping the boy's face, the fourteen year old attempted to squirm away but was easily caught by the older woman. "There all clean, now get down stairs," she smiled swatting him on the bum as he began to walk away.

"Princess?" 

"Yes?" Emma had found her way back onto the balcony and was distracted by the arriving crowds.

"Your diadem." 

"Oh Right," she said leaning down so the woman could weave the small golden jewel encrusted tiara into her blonde tresses. "Johanna?"

"Yes dear? "

"Who is it I am meant to be meeting with?" 

"Princess...It is not my place to discuss such affairs...

"Please, please just tell me." 

"Your parents just wish you to find a suitable companion," she said with a sigh. "You are getting a little old to simply go out galavanting around with Pinocchio, people will begin to talk. _"_

"They would not dare speak ill of the crown," the princess said sharply.

"Perhaps not in front of you, but gossip is as natural as breathing and it moves just as quickly." 

"It's a rather exclusive group though don't you think and what exactly is wrong with Pinocchio?"

"Nothing, Pinocchio is a good boy but hardly monarch material." 

"Daddy was a shepherd when he met mama and Queen Ella was her step sisters' chambermaid when she and King Thomas met one another. Is it not better to judge someone on their character and not their upbringing? _"_

"Of course," Both women turned and curtsied at the sound of Prince David's voice.

"Would you please excuse us Johanna?"

"Certainly your highness." She said curtsying again before she left.

"You look beautiful sweetheart _,"_ he said kissing her on the forehead immediately easing the younger blonde's anxiety. So you found us out, eh?

"Mother is not exactly subtle in her tactics." 

"No, but she does love you and with the announcement that you will one day take her place it has her worrying about who will love you after she and I are gone." 

"Benji and I have each other." 

"Of course, but that is not quite what we had in mind. Please just humor me and at least pretend to consider your options. If nothing comes to fruition I will talk to Snow and have her ease off a little, I promise. _"_

"For you, I suppose I can stand to talk to a few guests," she smiled.

"Thank you, now let's get down there before we are missed too much."

        "Representatives of the Kingdom of Quivira!" shouted the castle crier. Regina and her family bowed before the monarch. Queen Snow sat on the gilded throne smiling down at the foreign royals her husband and daughter nowhere in sight, which did not go unnoticed by Regina.

"Welcome, I hope your journey was agreeable."

"Thank you your majesty, it was indeed," said Vicente. "We would like to thank you for your hospitality and as a token of our appreciation we would like to present you with this, he gestured towards their servants who wheeled in five barrels of wine. From our estate's private vineyard."

"Thank you I am sure we will enjoy it immensely."

Just as Regina was beginning to rise the crier shouted "Their royal highnesses Prince David and Princess Emma!" Both the prince and princess greeted the Quivirans warmly but the young princess appeared more interested in the wine than in her guests _._ Regina was infuriated by the slight but did not let it show. To think her mother wanted her to seduce such an insolent person was preposterous.  **  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't own OUAT.

       Regina was shown to a private room in one of the palace's towering spires, the walls were adorned with velvet tapestries and the bed dressed in rich silks. When her servants delivered the last of her belongings she was left to her own devices and made her way towards the window of the chamber she would call home for the next ten days. It overlooked the harbor and she could see numerous foreign ships still making their way to port. She noticed the fog of her breath grow as it moved across the window pane, feeling a shiver she wrapped her arms around herself. While the dark haired princess was accustomed to snow, especially while staying in the mountain regions, the winters of Quivira were no where near as harsh as they were here in the Enchanted Forest. If she, _her mother,_ succeeded in aligning herself with Princess Emma then she would be spending the rest of her life in this alien land.

"Regina?" Cora entered without knocking.

"Yes Mother?" She asked uninterestedly, wishing nothing more than to be able to board one of the ships and to sail home.

She pulled her daughter away from the window with a wave of her hand, encasing her in bright purple strings of light. "Do you expect to stand out amongst all the other guests while your head is lost in the clouds?"

"Mother!"

"Now darling you know better than to take such a tone with me."

"I don't like it when you use magic on me."

"You bring it on yourself sweetheart. If you would just behave properly then I would not be forced to use magic."

Regina felt the magical bindings tighten around her with each moment. It was never enough to crush her but enough to hinder her breathing slightly, causing her words to come out in short gasps.

"Please mama, I will be good. Just please let me go," the young brunette pleaded.

"Listen to you. Commoners beg Regina not princesses and certainly not Queens," she said finally releasing her daughter.

"Must you criticize me?" She asked gasping for air.

"I'm not criticizing you dear, I am helping. Regina you will be twenty one in only a few short months time, all the other girls your age are betrothed if not already married."

"I just...I just don't see why it has to be her? Why it has to be this kingdom?"  

Cora remained silent as she made her way towards her daughter's wardrobe, pulling out a light grey dress for further inspection.

"Mother?" She tried again.

"Tonight I want you to take the opportunity to personally introduce yourself to Queen Snow and Prince David, set yourself apart from your cousins," she said ignoring her daughter's questions. "Express your gratitude for the invitation into their home, you may greet Princess Emma and Prince Benjamin but address all comments to the Queen. Understood?"

"Yes Mother," she answered her eyes down cast.

"And if asked a question give memorable but not overtly bold statements."

"Yes Mother," she repeated remembering that she had once been instructed to act in a similar fashion when encountering her grandfather.

"Here, this would look lovely on you," she said handing her unenthused daughter the dress. "I shall collect you for dinner in two hours and I expect you to be in a more receptive mood when I return."

"Yes mother," she said for a third and final time. Not risking a single movement until after her mother had left the room.

****

       Emma did not think she had ever spoken to so many people in her short eighteen years of life as she had today in the throne room. She entered her drawing room eager to remove the beautiful yet confining red dress, but before she got the chance she felt a pair of hands cover her eyes.

"Guess who?"

"Hmmmm, who oh who could it possibly be?" She asked sarcastically. "The blind witch perhaps or maybe the butcher? The baker?"

"Emma, seriously."

"The candlestick maker?"

Emma could once again see, at least through one eye, as the hand that had been covering the princess's left side had moved to pinch her arm.

 _"YEEEOCH! ALEX!"_ She squealed rubbing her afflicted arm.

"That is better," mocked the neighboring princess.

Emma turned to hug her oldest friend in the world. "I am so happy you are finally here," she said as she made her way to her dressing room to change into less formal clothes. Two maids were already waiting to help the princess untie the tight corset and once she was in a pair of leather pants and a loose fitting linen shirt Emma dismissed them so she and Alexandra could talk in private.

"So, what is with the party? Usually your mother can hold off on celebrations at least until the summer harvest," she said snickering.

"Didn't you hear? I am getting married," Emma smirked.

That shut the other princess up, at least for a moment as she stared wide eyed with her mouth hanging open.

"Better close that up, you don't want to catch any flies."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ARE GETTING MARRIED?!" She said all in one breath.

"Well not technically married, at least not today, but mother and father wish for me to enter into a courtship."

"And this whole thing is supposed to be what? Your parade of prospects," she asked beginning to laugh again.

"Yes, it is all very droll."

"Hmm, a party set up by a royal so that their child could find a romantic partner. Who on Earth has ever heard of that happening?" She asked sarcastically quirking an eyebrow at her friend.

"And how lucky is it for you that you get to choose from my table scraps? Why! it is only second best for Princess Alexandra," she said not able to keep the smile from her own face.

"The princes are hardly your table scraps if they were never a consideration to begin with," she pointed out.

Emma had never explicitly told her mother and father that she preferred the company of women to men but she had never made it a point to hide her feelings either. Given that the number of single women in attendance was fairly close to the number of single men she guessed that her parents had at least considered the possibility that she would choose to take a wife rather than a husband. If she were to even choose someone from the group she was introduced to, which was still an uncertainty in Emma's mind.

"Fine. While I entertain the petticoats you can keep the codpieces busy," she smiled.

They fell into a fit of childlike giggles only stopping when Alexandra spoke up again, "You know George is going to be devastated?"

Alexandra was referring to her nine year old brother who had been infatuated with Emma since he was five.

"You see, if you had just had the good sense to be born second I could have just gone off and married him and lived out my life pampered and doted on," she smirked.

"You already are pampered and doted on you spoiled little princess," she said tossing one of the divan pillows towards her friend, which Emma easily caught before it made contact with her face.

"That is the pot calling the kettle black sweet Alex," she said tossing the pillow back at the other girl before making her way towards her desk to retrieve a parcel from one of its drawers.

"Happy birthday," she said smiling.

Princess Alexandra's own eighteenth birthday had past three days ago but due to preparations for the Solstice ball Emma was not able to visit her at her own palace in the Glass Kingdom as she had done every year for the past seventeen.

The shorter blonde unwrapped the festively decorated paper to reveal an expertly carved little song bird on a gold chain.

"I had Pinocchio carve it," said Emma happily.

She had been gifted a carved swan for her own birthday and she had been so impressed with her friend's craftsmanship that she asked him to make her the song bird necklace for Alexandra.

The younger princess blushed at the thought of Pinocchio. The mischievous ginger haired boy she had paid little attention to as a child had since grown into a strong dark auburn haired man with a jaw more chiseled now than when he had been a puppet.

"Thank you, I love it," she said reaching out to hug the other girl.

"Here," she said taking the necklace back, "I will help you put it on."

Alexandra turned and lifted her hair allowing Emma to clasp the necklace about her neck. They both made their way to Emma's vanity mirror to see how the new piece of jewelry looked on the young blonde.

"Beautiful," Emma said reaching her arms around her friend and giving her a kiss on the cheek. Unbeknownst to them however, the entire conversation between the two princesses had been spied upon through the very same mirror that they were looking into.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own OUAT.

       As promised, Cora had come to collect her daughter exactly two hours from the moment she left the young woman's chambers. Pleased with her daughter's appearance in the grey dress, though both were aware that Regina would not have risked wearing a different one, they made their way to the welcoming feast.

       Regina and her mother were being escorted to the dining hall by a servant whom they did not bother to learn the name of and as they stepped closer to their destination Regina was finding it more and more difficult to maintain steady breathing. She was starting to feel nauseous and feared that she would not be able to make it to the table without becoming sick, which would cause not only her own embarrassment but her mother's wrath. Things would go much more smoothly if her father had been able to come with them she thought sadly, but someone needed to stay behind and run the estate, or so her mother had told her. Regina did believe that her mother loved her, she had to possess at least some part of Cora's heart but the stern and often times standoffish woman was tightfisted with her affection. Prince Henry on the other hand knew exactly how to comfort his daughter, always ready with kind words, a hug, or a peppermint candy to ease his princess's anxiety. Surprisingly, the servant guided Regina to her seat without incident and she was able to relax a little. She and her mother were the first to be seated at that particular table and she took the opportunity to look around at the other tables. She could see her cousin Catalina and her husband Cesar at the far end of the room, there did not appear to be any type of seating arrangement in mind, which Regina found peculiar. She was pulled from her inspection as another figure was escorted to their table, a tall hard faced man who looked to be in his mid thirties dressed in formal military uniform to a country Regina was unfamiliar with. Both women rose to greet the man noticing a smaller younger figure standing directly behind him when they did so.

"I am Tsarevich Ivan of Buyan," the man greeted bowing towards Regina and kissing her outstretched hand then repeating the motion to the older woman.

"And this is my wife Tsarevna Vasilisa," his words were heavily accented and it seemed to be a struggle to speak even those few words in the trade dialect. They made idle chat as that was all the language barrier allowed for. From what Regina could follow, Ivan was regaling some sort of conquest over a skeleton who had turned Vasilisa into a frog. She was unsure if the story was being mistranslated or not but there was certainly something that the dark haired princess was missing along the way. Cora, while keeping a cool and interested exterior, cared very little for the trivialities of these foreigners lives and instead kept watch over her daughter's reactions and responses to them, after all any slight misstep she took with these people would quickly need to be rectified before she presented herself to the royal family. The dining hall was quickly filling up and Regina suspected that food would be served soon, she had received no indication that her mother wanted her to make her way over to the royals yet so she remained seated for the time being. The last to arrive made their way to their seats greeting two more sets of people who had been shown to her own table when she heard the most ignoble of sounds and looked to find where it was coming from and for who would dare make such a noise. She did not have to search long as everyone else in the hall seemed to also bring their attention towards the unsavory noise and to her surprise it was none other than Queen Snow. The raven haired queen was unceremoniously clanking a fork against her wine glass she was going to ask her mother why anyone would do such a thing when she noticed several people around her raising their glasses, apparently the woman was making a toast.

"Greetings, I Queen Snow and my family wholeheartedly welcome you, representatives from kingdoms near and far, into our home as friends. We are delighted that you could all join us for the occasion of the Solstice, looking to your left or to your right you may find friend and foe alike, but while under this roof we are all a single community and we hope this gathering will bring lasting relationships amongst all our kingdoms. Good cheer," the woman said raising her glass.

"Salud." Regina replied as she raised her own glass and glanced at her mother's tightening jaw at the utterance, " _be exotic not foreign_ ," Regina silently repeated her mother's words, " _what did that even mean?"_ She thought confusedly.

****

       As soon as the hosting table was served the first course the servants made their way around to the guest tables. Snow White looked out amongst the crowds being served hoping against hope that at least one of the guests would peak her daughter's interest. It was difficult to decide who was the most likely candidate though, Emma was at an age where she no longer discussed many aspects of her life with herself and David, at least not without prodding.

"It was a lovely speech," said David as he grasped his wife's hand and giving her a kiss on the cheek and then whispering into her ear, she knows.

"What?!" Said Snow panicked looking towards her husband, "how could she possibly know?"

"Because we raised a beautiful, intelligent, and savvy daughter," he said glancing at her with his charming smirk.

The queen said nothing.

"If it makes you feel any better I talked to her and she agreed to consider some of her options."

"The whole point was for her not to be aware so that love... or at least stirrings would come naturally."

Snow glanced over at her daughter who was eagerly cutting into a dumpling with her fork seemingly oblivious to her parents conversation of her.  

"While I love our daughter dearly, you know how she can be. I fear Emma will become overly critical of people who would otherwise make fine matches for her," she said sighing in frustration.

David looked sympathetically at his wife, "Whatever is meant to be, will be. If her true love is indeed in this room as you hope then I am certain her heart will inform her mind to not be so harsh. Emma is smart and once the right person comes along, whether they are in attendance today or not, I am confident she will make the right decision after all , despite the many _many_ objections to the idea, if not for the love of a princess a prince would have stayed a shepherd." 

The queen leaned in and gave her husband a chaste kiss, "yes and you would just as soon give up this life to go back to living on that little farm."

"I will admit I do occasionally yearn for the more simple things in life but it would be difficult to give up such luxury, the grandeur meals, not to mention the dancing servant girls," he said salaciously.

An audible slap landed on the man's arm as they both laughed.

"You are too terrible," she said trying to control her laughter.

       During every course of the dinner Cora, without fail, kept her eyes on the royals across the room droning out the conversations going on at her own table. Watching the Queen's and Prince's mouths intently trying to decipher what they were speaking about, she knew she should have enchanted the silverware, but a fork mimicking the voice of Queen Snow would not have gone unnoticed by the other guests. Finally as the evening was coming to a close and cocktails and desserts were being served she pulled her eyes from the married couple and rested them on her daughter. As a child Regina had a terrible habit of biting her nails when nervous, a most undignified and unladylike habit that she had finally put a stop to when her daughter was thirteen. Looking at her now and seeing the slight twitching of the younger woman's hands Cora knew that she was desperately fighting the urge to stick her fingers in her mouth. If it were not for their resemblance Cora would swear that Regina could not possibly be her natural daughter, after all how could she of all people have raised such a fearful child. She had sacrificed much in her life and made it so her daughter wanted for nothing, if it were not for Henry's coddling of her surely Regina would be more susceptible to the life she was going to give to her, to the power she was going to give her.

"Calm yourself child," she said in Quiviran so the other guests at their table were not privy to their conversation.

"I am trying to mother," she said taking a sip of her wine.

"You must pull yourself together, in this place there are hundreds of people looking for any type of weakness, weaknesses they will not hesitate to exploit. So you need to stay strong, whatever you may be feeling you need to put on a brave face and stay ten steps ahead of them all."

"Is that what you do mother?" She asked unsure of to which characteristic she was referring to.

"Always," she replied returning her gaze to the two royals. "They will be excusing themselves soon, let them. We do not want you drawing the guests attention to yourself this early, after the Queen retires to her private rooms for the evening request an audience with her."

"In her private apartment mother? Is that not a bit inappropriate or invasive?"

"Bold, my love. Remember what I told you?"

She nodded.

"Be sure to speak your answers darling," the agitation was evident in the older woman's voice.

"Yes mother," Regina said correcting herself and returning her attention back to her dessert, slicing a knife through her poached pear.

       Another twenty minutes passed before Queen Snow finally rose from her seat and left the dining hall with Princess Emma following closely behind. After sending Prince Benjamin off to bed David also proclaimed that he was retiring for the evening leaving Snow and Emma alone in the drawing room. There was an unfamiliar awkwardness between them at that moment a feeling neither Emma nor Snow enjoyed.

"May I pour you a cup of tea mother," asked the young girl hoping to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Yes, thank you that would be lovely right now darling," she said kindly while heading towards the settee.

Emma poured the hot amber liquid into the small ornate ceramic cups watching the steam rise as she tried to decide how to start the conversation. However, soon enough her mother started it for her.

"Come sit with me sweetheart."

Without hesitation the blonde complied bringing their beverages with her.

"Thank you love," she said taking a tentative sip of her tea. "You did very well today. I am quite proud of you I want you to know that. Even though you were over a half an hour late," she smiled causing the girl to blush.

"I apologize mama, I was thinking and had not realized how late in the afternoon it had gotten."

"You are forgiven but pay better attention next time, punctuality is very important."

"You once told me that a royal can not be late," she smiled thinking of the occasion when her mother had arrived at a knighting ceremony nearly an hour late.

"So I did my sweet child but as I recall my exact words were a queen can not be late and as you are not yet a queen you were very much late," she said smiling. Then changing her tone to a soft and gentle one and asked, "Were you thinking of anything in particular?"

"Just about our guests mother."

The older woman nodded

 "And whether or not you had a particular guest that you had wanted me to meet."

"No, there was no one in particular," there was no need to dance around the subject at this point and Snow cut right to the chase, she was never a good secret keeper anyway. "I just thought that, now that you are getting older, it might be nice for you to have someone to spend time with."

"And I am supposed to pick from one of these pre approved guests."

"No, not necessarily."

Emma looked at her mother in disappointed disbelief. A look that the Queen had never seen on her daughter's face before, at least not directed at her.

"Your father and I would never force you into a relationship, we never wanted that type of life for you. I was just hoping that if love were to blossom between you and a member of royalty that it would make things easier for you. We never told you or Benjamin this before but when I first announced my engagement to your father, people were less than thrilled."

That surprised Emma, all she had ever heard growing up was about the perfect story of true love between Snow White and _Prince_ _Charming_. To find out otherwise was shocking to say the least.

"But eventually people did accept you and daddy and then King Thomas and Queen Ella," she said looking into her tea cup as if in deep thought.

"Yes eventually _most_ did." It was difficult to be so candid with her daughter about the citizens thoughts, up until now Emma had never been given any indication that their family was anything but beloved by the people. But soon enough Emma would find out that even the most favored and benevolent of rulers were not spared from their subjects scrutiny. "When I said being with a royal would make it easier for you it is because there are people...small pockets of people, who are adverse to the idea of you ruling after me."

If Emma had been shocked before what her mother just told her left the princess absolutely flabbergasted.

"I was next in line after your grandfather died so there was no objections to me but for you, well there are people who believe Benjamin is the rightful heir and would prefer it if he were to be crowned King ahead of you," she said while reaching out to untangle her daughters braid and starting to run her fingers through the girl's hair in a comforting manner. "Given the initial reaction I had gotten with David I just did not want to give them any more fodder against you, please don't be angry with me."

Emma focused on her mother's stroking of her hair. "Mama it is not so much that I am angry," and she wasn't at least not at her mother, ignorant townspeople who couldn't see potential if it bit them in the ass perhaps but not the Queen. "I was simply concerned at how quickly it all was sprung on me, I feared the Solstice was meant to be my engagement party."

That got a surprised bit of laughter from the older woman. "Oh sweetheart no. I knew early on in our relationship that I wanted to marry your father but I know that it is unrealistic to expect that from all relationships."

"So you won't be disappointed if I do not choose someone right now or if I choose not to marry at all?"

"I won't lie, I would be a little disappointed. Not in you," she quickly added. "It's just that ever since you were born I have had this idea about what your life would be like and that always included you finding the love of your life and me planning a grand wedding for you."

"I'm sorry things are not going the way you planned it," she said truly.

Snow moved to kiss her daughter's cheek, "Life rarely does baby, but that is okay."

"I promised daddy that I would keep an open mind and I intend to keep that promise."

"You always do, but even if love does not blossom in the next few weeks perhaps prolific trades and powerful allies will. I also dreamed you would one day be a confident and strong leader and these gatherings will help you attain that," she smiled. 

Emma smiled back reaching her arms around the older women content with simply being held by her mother.

The moment of maternal love was broken when a knock at the door was heard.

Ensuring that both she and Emma were presentable first the Queen called out giving the visitor permission to enter.

"Good evening your majesty, your highness," the servant said as he bowed to them. "My apologies for the intrusion but one of your guests wishes an audience with you my Queen."

Queen Snow, never having been someone to refuse a guest in her home's request, nodded her approval and sent the servant to retrieve them. He returned shortly thereafter with a tall raven haired beauty walking in tandem with the man.

She lowered her eyes in a sign of respect before curtsying towards the two women.

"Good evening Queen Snow, Princess Emma. My name is Princess Regina of Quivira and I am humbled to make your acquaintance."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.etiquettescholar.com/index.html  
> I will basically be running on Star Trek foreign language rules where everybody does have their own individual language but everyone can understand each other until it is important to the plot. It will always be stated if they are speaking in a different language as I am basing the Quivirans on a mixture of Latin American and Mediterranean countries and the Enchanted Forest is based on a mixture of Western European and North American countries.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own OUAT

       Regina waited anxiously in the hall for the servant to return and to inform her of her fate, which of course deep down she already knew, Snow White would never turn away a guest. She had pondered all afternoon what she would say to the woman, a thousand scenarios ran through her head each taking into consideration the woman’s mood, whom she was with, and how much time she was allotted. When the door opened she began to panic,  _ this is actually happening _ , she thought as the man gestured for her to come forward. Regina gracefully entered into the sitting room of Queen Snow, her heart hammering in her chest and forgetting everything she had intended to say in that moment, she found only the Queen and her daughter in the room. During her lapse in thinking social etiquette and proper training kicked in and she quickly lowered her eyes and body respectfully to the woman of superior station to her own.

She took a calming breath, "Good evening Queen Snow, Princess Emma. My name is Princess Regina of Quivira and I am humbled to make your acquaintance."

Snow nodded her head while Emma curtsied back towards her mother’s guest. The blonde looked at the girl, she was pretty enough but looked stiff and prudish as if her spine could be used as a support beam. She tried very hard but could not remember if they had been introduced in the throne room today or not, although she doubted she would be able to recall any of the new faces at the drop of the hat.

"Thank you, it is a pleasure to meet you as well. You may rise," she said making a hand gesture. 

"Thank you," Regina said as she rose from her position careful to keep her eyes focused on a spot on the slab stone floor.

Snow waited for a few moments inspecting Regina and when she realized that the girl was not going to start the actual conversation she herself began. "Quivira. You are one of King Xavier’s daughters then?"

Regina finally brought her eyes up to meet the Queen’s shaking her head no, but remembering what her mother had said also gave a verbal answer.

"My uncle your Majesty, his youngest brother Henry is my father," she said and then immediately returned her gaze to the floor when finished speaking.

"Prince Henry," she smiled. "It is my understanding that he is a particularly talented horse breeder."

Regina began to relax, she had succeeded in engaging the Queen and started easing into casual conversation with the woman.

"Talented indeed, you will find no faster horse than one of our Arabians."

"I should like to see them sometime, if they are as fast as you say they are then perhaps we can work out some type of deal," the Queen smiled.

"It would be a great honor indeed to supply your kingdom with our thoroughbreds," replied the Quiviran.

"So if Henry is your father then that must mean Cora is your mother?" She said giving no hint as to her opinion of the woman, at least not one Emma or Regina could see.

She had been surprised by the Queen’s knowledge of her mother and did her best to hide her returning anxiety, she once again brought her full attention away from the spot on the floor and answered.

"People say I favor her quite a bit from when she was my age," and then again cast her eyes away from the older woman.

Snow rose from her seat and walked over to the foreign princess gently bringing her fingers to the girl’s chin in an effort to get a better look at her. 

"An apt comparison, except for the lips of course," she stated with a smile. 

Very few people outside of her immediate family had ever attempted to touch her and while the action was not expected Regina found that, surprisingly, it was not un welcomed either. 

Meanwhile Emma noted the peculiar actions of this Princess….Reina, while extended eye contact could be mistaken as flirtatious she had never seen someone take such great lengths to avoid eye contact with someone only to bring them back in short bursts.

"Emma. Pour our guest a cup of tea while she tells us how she is finding the Enchanted Forest so far. This is your first time here is it not?"

"Yes it is," she nodded while joining the Queen on the divan. "And while I have found your kingdom lovely so far I fear I am not adapting particularly well to your weather," she said giving a small smile to the Queen.  

"Well I am certain we are a far cry different from your dry winters," Snow smiled sympathetically, the girl was clearly trying to hide the fact that she was homesick. "I will send a servant with extra covers and kindling to your room."

"Thank you, that is most generous of you," she said while politely taking a sip of tea that had been offered to her. 

It was very clear that the foreigner’s interest tonight lied solely with the Queen and Emma continued to sip her own tea while fading in and out of the conversation, she found there was nothing important or interesting in discussing the weather. When Emma did finally chime into the conversation, with regards to their annual snowfall, she had waited for the dark haired princess to turn her attention towards her however she never did, instead the brunette answered once again with her eyes directed towards her mother. 

"We have snow in my kingdom, just not the vast quantities that your kingdom appears to have. More so in the mountain regions; although, it is difficult for me to compare to other places as I have spent very little time away of our country estate."

"Truly," Emma balked. "Tell me what is so awe-inspiring about the Keveran countryside that it has kept you from barely ever traveling outside of its borders?" The blonde asked taking a sip of her tea completely oblivious.

And for the first time that evening the foreign Princess turned her gaze towards Emma, sharply. Her eyes glinted with stars, reminiscent of black diopside expressing anger, annoyance, offense the blonde was not sure of which.

It was the longest the dark haired princess had kept her eyes on anyone that night, Snow noted while blushing at her daughter’s unintentional blunder. Emma was never someone who liked to stay in one place too long and it was natural for her to assume that others felt the same way as she. She would have to remember to have a conversation with her daughter about the importance of being tactful.

With the polite gentleness that Queen Snow possessed, Regina had hoped her initial opinion of the boorish Princess Emma had been a mistake, but the complete disregard for her home had only reinforced that opinion.

"Key Veer Ah," Regina said as slowly and as clearly as possible leaving no room for any future mispronunciations of the name. The brunette could tell that the other girl was shocked by her tone as if she had never heard a harsh word against her in her life, but that shock quickly turned to a cold stare of defiance clearly agitated by her actions.

 Regina gently put down her cup and saucer when the realization of her misstep came in the form of her glinting reflection off of the polished silver tea cart. Her heart sank into her stomach and she quickly replaced the anger of the insult off of her face with one of cold detachment. 

"My apologies your Majesty but it is getting late and I have already taken up more of your time than I had intended," she said waiting until she was dismissed before actually moving from her spot on the couch.

"I will arrange for an escort back to your room."

"Thank you," she said curtsying a final time. "Good night Queen Snow, Princess Emma."

Regina walked in tandem with the servant who had presented her to the royals earlier that evening and just like earlier the brunette felt as if she was going to become sick.

How could she have been so stupid as to have scolded the Crown Princess? Things had been going so well too, she hadn’t spilled anything and had been courteous, forthright, even a little funny she admitted; however, her correction of the Princess’s pronunciation was front and center. She clasped her hands while walking through the halls, to anyone who walked by, Regina looked nothing more than a demure lady of the realms piously making her way to her chambers for the night, when in actuality it was to hide the fact that her hands were now trembling. _Stupid, stupid, stupid,_ she berated herself the entire rest of the way to her room.

When Regina returned to her room she, of course, found her mother waiting there for her, a hand mirror in her unforgiving grip. 

"Mama," she quietly greeted lowering her eyes for a much different reason than she had for Queen Snow.

"Regina," she said before crossing behind her daughter and closing the door firmly shut leaving her once again alone with her only daughter.

 

       The next morning, after breakfast as well as a long discussion with the Queen about her social faux pas the night before, Emma joined Alexandra out near the pastures. The Princess’s brother, George, had a riding lesson and they had decided to watch. She discussed the incident between her and the foreign princess with her friend while occasionally glancing at the small boy. She smiled as he trotted about on the horse, who itself was still to young and inexperienced to do anything fancy, carefully guided by its trainer.

"Way to go Emma," Alexandra was laughing, "not even twenty four hours and you have already managed to burn a bridge between yourself and an entire country."

"I hadn’t intended for it to come out that way Alexandra, besides it is not like she was exactly polite herself she took one bite of the tea cake I offered and then ignored it for the rest of the visit."

"If that is the way you act around a woman who is only introducing herself I can only imagine how well you will do while trying to court one," Alexandra continued to laugh at her friend annoying the blonde in the process.

"It is not funny, my mother was very upset with me and even swatted me, she hasn’t done that since I was a kid."

Still she laughed thinking of the now fully grown princess bent over the Queen’s knee and eventually it became contagious and Emma could not help but begin to chuckle. 

Their laughter was interrupted though when a screeching whinney came from George’s horse followed by the boy’s own screeching wail. The two princess’ quickly turned their attention towards the one’s brother, the horse was on its hind legs frantically moving from side to side clearly frightened by something. Alexandra looked on fearfully as the beast thrashed her brother about, the trainer tried in vain to calm the animal down but in a second flat the horse reared back its legs and BAM its hooves powerfully collided with the man’s chest with a sickening crack. George screamed again tightly clutching the reins as the animal raced off leaving the stupefied blondes behind. 

"George!" Alexandra screamed pulling Emma out of her shock. 

"Run for help I will go after him," Emma yelled running towards one of the other horses knowing that she was the better rider of the two. There was no time for her to check on the stricken man but hopefully Alex would alert the medics as quickly as possible. She swung her leg over the large mare and was off like a bolt of lightning moving faster than she ever had in her entire life.

"Come on Artax, faster!" She cried hearing nothing except for the boy’s desperate pleas for help and the thundering of hooves against the frozen ground or perhaps it was her own heart. 

She was starting to gain on them and could see the snow propelled into the air by the horse’s galloping. She was only twenty or twenty-five yards behind when she saw a brown blur race past her shouting unfamiliar words but assumed their meaning was similar to what she herself had been shouting. The blur had quickly met up with Prince George’s horse and was now keeping pace with the beast as a dark clad figure reached out towards the boy. He reached out to the extended hand for a moment but quickly pulled back when a particularly hard jerk from the horse frightened him to return his grip. The dark figure reached out again this time gripping the small boy’s riding coat and swiftly swooping him up planting him firmly onto their horse as his own continued to race off into the distance.

George was gently dropped to the ground and watched as his savior climbed off of the horse. "Are you alright," she asked searching him over for any type of injury. 

He was trying to gain control over his shaking hands when he locked eyes with those of the concerned stranger.

"I’m I’m fine," he stuttered out hoping the beautiful woman had not noticed or at least mistook the reason behind it.

Emma finally caught up with them and hopped off of her horse before he was even at a full stop. The blonde immediately ran towards the boy she had known since infancy and to her surprise the rude princess that she had been talking about only moments before.

"George are you alright," she asked relieved as she threw her arms around the boy and embraced him.

George began to blush at the action, he was now alone with both this dark haired goddess as well as Emma and he quietly thanked the powers that be that he had not wet himself during the frightening ordeal he had just had.

"I am fine Emma," he said equally relieved, "if not for…" he looked up towards the dark stranger.

"Regina," she introduced herself to the boy, if Emma had not remembered her name she did not let it show.

"Regina," he spoke her name slowly as if he were tasting each letter. He liked it a beautiful name for a beautiful woman. She smiled brightly at George causing him to turn an even brighter shade of pink than before which did not go unnoticed by Emma or Regina.

"Are you sure you are alright," the blonde asked again.

He nodded looking to them both, "but I will never ride another horse for as long as I live."

"Nonsense," Emma said. "We must face our fears or else they will lord over us."

The next words out of the foreign princess’ mouth truly surprised Emma they were the last she ever expected to come from the other girl.

"Princess Emma is right," she said looking towards her. "The best thing to do is to get back on that horse immediately or that fear will only fester. Come now dry your tears and if you promise me you will continue on with your lessons I will gift you something special, okay?"

He waited a moment not quite sure if the idea of risking his life was worth a gift, but sure enough he gave Regina a shy smile and nodded in his agreement. 

"Good," she smiled broadly. "Now we are quite far from the palace, are you strong and brave enough to ride Rocinante with me?" 

Emma watched the interaction between the two noticing how attentive and gentle this Regina appeared to be as she closed her hand around George’s leading him to her horse. She was having a hard time associating her with the stiff and arrogant woman she had met last night as if they were two completely different people. While she had found the girl pretty she was surprisingly stunning when she smiled a thought the blonde princess did not want to dwell on for too long.

Regina climbed onto the back of her horse safely encasing the boy in front of her with her arm before making their way towards the castle to inform the royals of the prince’s well being.

"Wait," Emma called out to Regina as she climbed onto the back of her own horse. "Take the Black Creek Trail it has faster passage to the castle. I will collect the runaway horse," she said motioning her head towards the woods.

Regina nodded before changing direction leaving Emma behind to search for the missing horse, or so she thought. In actuality Emma was going to return to the pastures to check on the riding instructor and had wanted to spare the already shaken boy from seeing the injured man. Fortunately by the time she made it back the man, Claude, had already been taken to the infirmary and her parents as well as Alexandra’s were gathered around where the incident had taken place. Dark burgundy stained the spot where he had lain.  _ Skin as white as snow lips as red as blood _ , she had heard that story a thousand times from her grandfather and only now did the imagery truly sink in. 

"Emma!" Queen Ella shouted the moment she saw her. "Where is he? Where is my baby boy?" She asked frantically.

"He is fine and already on his way back to the castle she said as calmly and reassuringly as possible."

The Queen of the Glass kingdom looked as if she was ready to burst into tears of joy and quickly made her leave. 

"How is he?" Emma asked.

David wished he could spare his daughter the details; however, she had been present during the accident and it would not do well for a future Queen to not know how to deal with difficult news. "Not well," he looked on sadly. "Some ribs are broken and it appears they punctured his lung."

"Do we know what happened," she asked her father trying her best to stay cool and collected at the seriousness of the situation.

He nodded and gestured towards waving tracks in the snow next to the horse tracks. "It looks like a snake must have found its way over here."

"A snake, in this type of weather?"

"A few breeds have been known to come out on the snow from time to time in search of food or warmer shelter, at least for a short while." 

"It is certainly unfortunate that it would choose now to venture out of its hold," commented King Thomas.

"Come now, we don’t want to worry your mother any more than she already is and I would very much like to check on my son."

"Of course," David said. "Go be with your family, we will send some stable hands to retrieve the horse." 

"Emma are you coming?" He asked his distracted daughter.

"Yes father,"she said as she began to follow David and Thomas back to the palace taking one last look at the tracks. They appeared to just start and stop out of nowhere as if dropped from the sky but there were no near by trees that would have allowed for an adder to drop down from. She was confused by its meaning and the question still remained, What type of snake was residing in her kingdom?

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own OUAT.

       That night Emma was in a deep sleep when two servants entered her room to rouse her, alerting her that the Queen was awake and wished for her to join her.

Emma was perplexed it was still dark out and her mother had never woken her at this hour before. The blonde quickly dressed and met her mother in the hall surprised to find her alone, given the lateness she had expected to find her with her father.

“Mother,” she greeted with a confused smile.

“Emma,” she greeted but did not smile back. “I am needed in the infirmary and you will join me, tonight you are to have a lesson in ruling.”

She dutifully followed the Queen without question and when they arrived in the medical ward her senses were overwhelmed. Emma had been twelve when her grandfather had died, but she and Benjamin had not been allowed in the room during his final hour. This was like nothing she had ever experienced before, or smelled before, almost like the shop of an ironsmith. There was Claude laid out on a cot, he was ashen and looked as if he had aged ten years in only a matter of hours. His chest was caved in making it very difficult for the man to breath and a pool of blood had amassed on the stone floor. It was different from the bright crimson stain she had been met with earlier in the day and instead looked like an inkwell had spilled to the floor. The palace chaplain stood over him with, who Emma could only assume, the instructor’s weeping wife, a woman who the princess realized would be a widow before dawn’s light. 

“Queen Snow, Princess Emma thank you for coming,” the woman let out shakily attempting to curtsey.

“Of course,” the Queen said reaching for the crying woman’s hands.

Emma stood there unsure of what she was supposed to do, she had little medical knowledge at best and was certain her mother could not help with this serious of an injury either. She looked to Queen Snow who continued to watch the man with quiet reverence and thought it best to mimic her mother’s actions even if she was not particularly sure why. It took roughly another hour before the man’s movements finally ceased and all that was left was a shell of a body. Claude’s wife had become hysterical by this point and her mother attempted to comfort her but eventually one of the nurses were forced to give her a sedative. 

When the two women finally left to return to their chambers Snow noticed the pensive look on her daughter’s face and reached for her hand.

“Are you alright love?” She asked softly.

The blonde was startled out of her thoughts, “Yes,” she lied. “I suppose I am just confused as to how what just happened was meant to be a lesson for me?”

“The greatest thing that a ruler can provide for its people is comfort in difficult times.”

“But Claude was a citizen of the Glass Kingdom would it not have been more appropriate for King Thomas to have been present?”

“Do you recall the speech I made at the welcoming feast?” When Emma nodded she continued. “I said that while in this kingdom we were all one community and though Claude was a citizen of the Glass Kingdom when he came to work here we became responsible for his well being.

“But what happened was an accident, it could have happened anywhere.” 

“Indeed, but it happened on our personal lands so we will see to it that his family is sufficiently taken care of.”

She looked at her daughter who seemed to be lost in thought. “Are you sure duty is the only thing that is weighing so heavily on your head?”

“Yes mother,” she attempted to reassure the older woman. “I am just tired, after all it has been an excitable day.”

“Of course, she said wanting to further discuss the incident while also knowing what David would say about being too pushy with their daughter. “Goodnight,” she said kissing the blonde’s cheek.

“Goodnight mother.”

 

Regina was awoken by servants and joined her mother for breakfast before she made her way to the stables for her morning ride. The castle was abuzz and it was not long before she was informed of the horse instructor’s fate. In spite of the despairing news her mother had been surprisingly gleeful that morning and she took that, hopefully, as a sign for better times to come. She had already fed and mucked out Rocinante’s stall and began to brush his coat when she realized that she was no longer alone in the stables. Three figures slowly approached Regina before one broke away and rushed towards her stopping just short of barreling into her.

“Good morning Princess Regina,” the boy greeted with a broad smile.

She smiled back, “Good morning Prince George.” The two other figures approached them and Regina instantly straightened her posture before curtseying. 

“Good morning King Thomas, Prince David,” she said averting her eyes.

“Daddy this is her,” George stated excitedly.

“Please rise, you saved my son’s life for it is you that I should be bowing towards,” Thomas said. 

“I am only thankful I was close enough to hear his calls.” 

“Indeed, I was despondent to not have met you yesterday but you will understand why I did not immediately seek you out. I assure you anything you name and it shall be yours. Though whatever it may be it certainly can never repay the great service you have done for me.”

“Your Majesty in this instance reward is surely unnecessary.”

George interrupted, “Mama told me that Claude went home last night so Daddy and Prince David are taking me riding today, does that mean I still get my present?”

Regina did not comment on the subject of the horse instructor but confirmed that the boy would indeed receive something for his efforts. 

The small prince smiled widely again missing baby teeth on full display.

“Certainly there is something we can provide you with?” It was Prince David who spoke up this time. “What about a personal stable hand to help you care for your horse while you are here.”

“Thank you, but I prefer to do it myself.” She looked towards George again and smiled, “It helps build trust between master and steed.”

“Beauty, bravery, and intelligence an admirable combination,” the older prince complimented causing Regina to blush.

“If it is not too bold of me though, I must request that you not let my mother know, she doesn’t believe such actions are very ladylike.”

“Ah,” he smiled. “Well you need not worry, no such words shall pass my lips.”

“Nor mine,” assured Thomas.

“Thank you both.”

“I can keep a secret too Princess Regina,” shouted George eager to pull the woman’s attention back to himself.

All three smiled at the boy who was clearly and unabashedly infatuated with the dark haired princess.

 

       Emma parried her instructor’s swing, the heavy wooden sword bearing down onto her own with a loud crack. She forcefully pushed the woman away but stumbled slightly from the rebound giving the experienced warrior the opportunity to kick her feet from underneath her. Emma fell to her back it was as if the air had completely left her body and soon a shadow loomed over her. With a flash she felt the tap of the other woman’s sword against her chest.

“You’re dead,” said Mulan crouching down before gripping the collar of the princess’s shirt bringing her to her feet. “You looked away, never look away. It only takes a second, one split decision that can mean life or death. Now what have I told you?” She asked her young protege sternly, who looked on petulantly at her dressing down but answered still.

“Always keep your eyes on your opponent, not their weapon, not your feet, but them. That way you can predict their next move.”

“Good, now take position, and do it right this time,” she said playfully cuffing the side of the blonde’s head.

But Emma made no move to get into position, after the trip to the infirmary she had not been able to fall back asleep and had been distracted all morning.

“Mulan?” She instead asked. “Did you hear about what happened yesterday with Prince George and the horse?”

The older woman relaxed her stance and lowered her practice sword realizing that her pupil would not be able to properly train if her mind was preoccupied with other matters. Something she would eventually need to address, Tian forbid the girl would ever see war in her lifetime but if it did occur it is imperative that soldiers learn to block out all distractions and if Emma were to fight she could be no different. 

“Yes,” she finally answered. “It is lucky that the young prince was rescued in time.”

“His instructor was not so lucky. He died last night, he was a grown man and that horse crushed his ribcage as if they were a pile of reeds.”

Mulan looked at the girl she had been working with since she was fourteen years old, apparently lost in the memory.

“The first time I encountered death was just before my first battle,” she said getting lost in her own memory. “I was cresting over a hill with the troops and then there it was, a village massacred by a man named Shan Yu. Not a single man, woman, or child was left alive, there was an eerie quietness that I will never forget, snow lousy with blood, it was all very.” The older woman searched for the right word, it was some twenty years later and still she found difficulty in describing the experience. “Very consuming.”

The blonde looked on at her teacher relieved that she had found someone she could talk to. “The blood, that’s what I keep thinking about.” 

“Have you talked about your experience with your parents?”

The blonde shook her head no, “Mother said that as sovereign I must always put on a brave face, for the good of the people. It is better to have rulers worry over matters than have your entire realm in a panic. I don’t want my parents to worry about me, or worse, second guess my ability to rule the kingdom.” 

“I am certain the queen and prince are well aware of what you are capable of, but you may always seek counsel with me.”

Emma smiled at the older woman, “It has me thinking about my mortality as well. It is just like you said, it only takes a split second for something to become life or death.” 

“Princess, you should not be concerning yourself with dying.”

“No that is not what I meant, not exactly anyway. When I was in the infirmary last night I watched as my mother held the hand of the instructor’s wife who, despite my mother’s efforts, was inconsolable. Then it struck me, this woman and this man, lived vivid and complex lives with each other, time may lesson her pain but she will never be the same just as she was never the same after she met Claude.”

“And what does that mean exactly?”

“It means,” Emma said going into the starting position. “I want a wife,” she swung out striking the sword master’s own.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the longer than usual wait for this chapter I have been busy applying to grad school. I do not own OUAT.

        Emma was just getting out of her bath having finished washing the morning’s activity off her body when she saw it.  A silver domed serving tray and a note scrawled in her father’s hand.

**Emma,**

**Please try to eat. It is not healthy for you to go without meals especially after exerting so much energy. I shall expect you promptly at dinner.**

**With love, Father**

She raised the domed lid and smiled at what she found.

“Very clever dad,” she said to herself.

Resting on the platter was the one thing her mother and father knew she could never resist, no matter the time of day or what type of mood she was in. She quickly snatched up the hot sandwich and took that first delectable bite, savoring the crunch of the crust and the smoothness of the melted cheese.

Emma smiled at her father’s attempts to engage her, she had skipped breakfast that morning which she was certain as to her father knowing the reason why. His tactics were often times much more subtle than her mother’s although she was sure her mother’s hands were not clean of this either. She had never known her mother and father to keep secrets from each other and after this morning she had no doubts that the prince and queen had already discussed her.

_Emma_ _had been walking out of her training session and alerted some of the servants to draw her a bath when she caught sight of her father and King Thomas. Trailing behind them trying to keep pace with tiny little legs was Prince George, his head held high and looking mightily proud._

_“Well look at you,” she exalted. “I guess it is safe to say that all went well this morning,” she smiled._

_“Yup,” he smiled back puffing out his chest in the process clearly trying to draw her eyes to the shining object pinned to his lapel._

_“And what is this?” Emma asked taking the bait._

_“Princess Regina gave it to me, she said that soldiers are awarded gold medals for bravery.”_

_The blonde bent over to take a better look at the object, it was clearly just a piece of gold currency attached to a bit of a hair ribbon, but the engraved eagle did give it a look of officialness, at least to someone not familiar with the culture and she did have to commend the princess for her creativity while on the fly._

_“Well you look quite valiant if I do say so myself.”_

_George beamed at her again._

_“It is almost time for your lessons now George, we can talk to Emma later tonight.”_

_“Yes daddy,” he said before giving a little bow towards the prince and princess happily making his way behind the king._

_And so Emma was left alone with her own father._

_“What about you, would you like to join me for lunch?” He asked. Hoping that his daughter was feeling more herself this afternoon than she had that morning, or at least how Snow had informed him of how she had acted._

_“I was just on my way for a bath.” She shrugged._

_“It is still early I can wait.”_

_“I was going to meet Alexandra after, but I am certain Benji would love to have some one on one time with you."_

_“Or all three of us could go out to our special spot by the lake."_

Emma chuckled lightly, "It is much to cold for a picnic dad, I will have to pass."

_"Emma, you know I don’t like it when you don’t take care of yourself.” He chided._

_“I will join you and mother for dinner, I promise. I am fine daddy, really,” she said letting the man know that she knew what the conversation was actually about._

_“Are you?” he asked seriously._

_Emma sighed, feeling more confident after her discussion with Mulan she answered her father honestly, “I am, it was just a lot to deal with.”_

_He nodded sympathetically, “And you don’t have an questions about what our responsibilities in the matter are?”_

_“No, mother was quite clear.”_

_He smiled down proudly at his first born, “She said you handled yourself well, unfortunately I cannot tell you that anything like this will not happen again, but I am certain that you will be able to handle the situation as well as your mother ever could if it does.”_

_“Thank you daddy,” Emma smiled sadly back at her father before turning and making her way back to her private rooms, wondering on how many occasions he and her mother were required to make their way down to the infirmary._

    Emma ate relatively happy, or at least in an improved mood than she had been in earlier, while waiting for Alexandra to arrive. However, she continued to stew on her earlier thought concerning the amount of times her mother and father had been requested to the infirmary. This was the first time in her entire life she was seriously considering marriage and although she was still doubtful that love would just fall into her lap such as her parent’s had it was important that she would be able to find a woman who could handle the type of situation that had occurred last night, someone who could bare the weight of the crown.

 

           Regina and Cora sat in the older woman’s temporary chambers as servants came into serve them lunch. When the silver serving plate was placed in front of Regina she looked down at it curiously and then at her mother’s own meal of crabcakes.

The dark haired princess knew better than to question her mother in front of _the help,_ even if they could not understand them, and waited until they left the room.

“Mother what is this?” She asked poking at the unfamiliar food with her fork.

“A grilled cheese sandwich,” she answered. “I overheard Prince David mention that it is Princess Emma’s favorite.”

“Overheard?” She stated skeptically.

Cora gave her daughter a warning look to which Regina immediately averted her eyes and apologized before slicing her fork and knife into the sandwich. She watched as the golden liquid seeped past the slices of bread and took a tentative bite. It was warm and buttery and the sharp taste of the cheese blended well with it, pleasant enough but she could hardly imagine eating it on a regular basis.

Cora watched as her daughter ate in silence, the earlier comment forgotten, “Have you spoken to King George?”

By this point in the day every realm in attendance was well aware of who her daughter was and how she bravely saved a child in distress. It would have been preferable if Regina had the opportunity to help a member of the hosting family but the older royals were much more skilled and would have eventually gained control of the horses on their own. However, Prince George was small enough and close enough to the White family that he would garner the royals’ attention.

“This morning before my ride, mother,” she said assuming that the older woman was already aware of the fact.

“And?”

“He was very appreciative mother,” she said as she continued to cut small pieces from the sandwich. “I am rather surprised though, I had thought you would be cross with me concerning my drawing attention to myself.”

“Nonsense, my sweet. One can hardly ignore a child in need and in any case it is about the type of attention one brings to oneself. You have seen how fast word has spread amongst the palace and by this time tomorrow all in the Enchanted Forest will know you to be both heroic and nurturing, and that is what they will be looking for in a queen.”

“Of course,” she nodded not pulling her attention away from her plate.

“The prince seems rather smitten with you,” she said almost nonchalantly but Regina knew better.

“You spoke to him?” She asked her hands tightly gripping the silverware.

“Yes, a delightfully precocious boy, we had a lovely chat with one another,” she laughed giving a smile Regina was familiar with.”

“That is wonderful mother,” Regina said trying not to sound suspicious of her actions. The idea of manipulating the White family already had her nerves in knots and she did not think she could handle knowingly exploiting a small child’s crush on her. George seemed like a sweet boy and she was all to aware of how her mother corrupts young souls.

         

        That evening Emma and Alexandra were making their way back from the royal menagerie, the older of the two having had the sudden urge to view the foreign aviaries, when they came across the latter’s brother. This would have gone acknowledged without fanfare had the small child not been standing on his tippytoes and hiding behind a plant near the edge of the balcony.

“What are you doing?” Emma asked causing the small boy to give a surprised squeak and to nearly drop the telescope he had been holding.

“Nothing,” George said panicked.

“Oh really, then what are you doing with that?” Asked Alexandra.

He said nothing which caused his older sister to snatch the object from his hands so she could see for herself what had George so preoccupied. She gave an annoyed sigh, “You know better than to spy on people,” she said before handing over the golden telescope to Emma. The other blonde looked through the eyepiece and was greeted with the image of Princess Regina on her horse weaving through their equestrian course a toothy smile forming on her face as she made a particularly difficult jump. Regina was a very impressive rider Emma noted, although she supposed she could have guessed that from how she handled the runaway horse incident the other day.   

“I wasn’t spying on her,” he quickly defended. “I was just… deciding to take more of an interest in competitive riding.”

“Of course you were, that is why you were watching from the balcony.”

“Well I am not allowed to go outside by myself,” he said matter of factly.

Emma had to admit that for off the top of the eight year old’s head, that it was a pretty plausible, if not an obvious, lie to hide what he was doing.

The younger blonde rolled her eyes. “You were sneaking and spying,” she said placing her hands on her hips.

“I was not sneaking! Regina told me, she goes to the stables after breakfast and before dinner everyday to...” The boy clamped his hands over his mouth, his anger briefly causing a lapse in memory as he had very nearly broken the promise he had made to the dark haired princess to keep her secret.

Alex and Emma, for their part, did not seem to pay any mind to his almost revelation but instead continued to scold him. “I catch you again and I am going to tell mother and father,” she said sternly. “Now let’s go and get ready for dinner. She said gripping the boy by his arm and practically dragging him with her.

The boy slumped his shoulders and reached for the telescope; however, Emma kept it from his reach. “I think it is best if I were to hold on to this for now.” The boy petulantly harrumphed and continued on with his older sister.

When Alexandra and George were out of sight she turned to look out the balcony and discretely took a second glance at the horse and rider, not completely sure why. At least George has the excuse of being eight years old, she thought, but what excuse did she have. Emma herself did love competitive riding and before walking away to join her parents for the promised evening meal she decided that this Princess Regina would be a worthy adversary to herself on the field. 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own OUAT.

       The sun was allowing its last bit of light for the night when Regina dismounted Rocinante and was met by Antonia, her most preferred of cousins. Growing up Regina desperately wished for a sibling she could play with and share secrets with and as she grew older she realized she wanted someone with whom she could share the burden of what it was like to have such a strong mother. At only five months apart Antonia was the closest thing she had to that, and while she knew it was safest not to go into full detail with the other girl about how trapped she felt, aside from her father Antonia was the only person she could ever truly rely upon. She was relieved to find out that the other girl would be joining her and her mother for dinner that evening, she knew this meant a few hours of reprieve from her mother’s manipulations as Cora would not risk discussing her plans in front of anyone else, not even her niece, especially not a niece who was unmarried. The cousins walked to the stables to house the younger’s horse for the night discussing nothing of particular importance until the subject of their royal hosts came up.

“Rumor has it that you have had a private audience with the monarchy,” Antonia stated.

“Yes, everyone seems to know about my encounter with Prince George,” Regina replied suspecting that her cousin was not referring to the Glass Kingdom.

“Yes, very commendable but not who I was talking about Gigi,” she said smirking while using the childhood nickname that she was well aware Regina despised. “According to my laundress to one of the scullery maids a certain dark haired princess in a grey frock was seen being escorted to the Queen’s quarters, they are of the assumption that it was me.”

“People should not assume things,” she said turning to brush the steed, both meanings clear to the other girl who chose to ignore her cousin.

“You were wearing a grey dress not too long ago, were you not?” She continued to try to block out the other girl. “Please, if you are having an affair with Queen Snow you must tell me now ” Antonia said giving a cheshire grin.

She glared at the other girl’s teasing and turned as if to throw the brush at her, who then put her hands up in a defensive manner still laughing.

“You shouldn’t say things like that, someone could hear you,” Regina said.

“If they do hear me it is not like they will understand me,” she pointed out nonchalantly. “So what were you really doing in the Queen’s apartment anyway?”

Regina debated whether or not to tell the girl about the visit with Queen Snow and Princess Emma for fear of evoking her mother’s wrath, but perhaps she was not meant to keep certain things private. If she were truly in love with someone or at least interested in someone she would tell Antonia about them, that had been the case when she had first met Daniel. She decided that if her _attraction_ towards Emma was to be perceived as authentic she must tell someone she trusted, certainly her mother could not fault her logic and see that she was trying to do what she was  _asking_ of her.

“Discussing trade options,” she finally said.

“Really?” Antonia asked, the gossip in her sounding disappointed.

She nodded. “Princess Emma was there as well,” she said as if it were an after thought.

This seemed to pique her interest and she smiled again, “And what was she like?”

She paused for a moment trying to steady her nerves at what she was about to do, “Beautiful.”

The wide toothy grin returned to her cousin’s face.

  
         Emma placed the telescope in the desk located in her sitting room before two chamber maids came in to help change her into proper dining attire and she was left to her own thoughts, which inadvertently kept returning to Princess Regina’s riding. The skill and ease to which the darker girl handled her horse was rather impressive, but she had seen champion riders before and there was just something truly different about her, by which she meant her interaction with the horse, of course.  When she began to make her way to her parents’ private apartment for dinner as she had earlier promised, she still had yet to exile the girl from her thoughts. In an effort to occupy her mind with something other than the raven haired Quiviran she turned her attention to the corridor walls and admired the banners of all the kingdoms that decorated them. She recognized some from the parade only a few days earlier and further inspected them seeing which kingdoms had similar patterns or symbols until one in particular caught her eye. It was royal blue and maroon the dark colors causing the large golden eagle in the middle to become more striking, the eagle she recognized from Prince George’s medal and her mind instantly returned to the person she had taxingly been trying to avoid. _This was Princess Regina’s coat of arms_ , she thought, taking in all the images and wracking her mind for their various meanings. Laurels, _triumph_ , torches, _life_ , and a crowned helm along with the eagle were both signs of nobility, a royal’s crest to be sure and in that moment she realized how plain her fortress and flame looked in comparison. She had never really associated the image with herself but looking at the more elaborate design of the Quiviran royal line she decided that it fit the other woman quite well. _Perhaps she had not given this princess a fair enough observation_ , thought Emma. While her own interaction with the darker princess was questionable at its best according to her mother, however unintentional it might have been, it was she who had unfortunately been the rude party in their discussion with the foreigner. After all she had been kind and gentle with George, surely there was more to the woman than strife. Emma checked the face of the clock, if she hurried she might be able to catch the other girl at the stables and still be able to make it to dinner with her parents. The blonde decided she would make her way down to the equestrian course and apologize for her mis step.

She quickly made her way outside, not bothering with a coat, and approached the guest stables where she luckily caught Regina on her way out, with the added bonus of another who, given their similar features, she guessed was of some relation to Regina. 

"Princess Emma," she gave a small curtsey.

"Princess Regina."

 

       Emma angrily marched back to the castle intending to return to her rooms when she decided to make a detour towards the library. _Honestly, who did those girls think they were? Well the nieces of a king, but that was hardly the point._ It had initially taken a moment for the blonde to realize the two brunettes were speaking to each other in a different language and to be perfectly honest the second girl’s continuous laughter amusingly reminded her of Alexandra. But, eventually it became very clear that in between her own conversation with Regina the two were talking about her, and were discourteous enough to do it in front of her.  She quickly made her way to the languages section looking for a translated dictionary immediately flipping to the g’s when she did. The girl with Regina had continually referred to her by some word while laughing and she wanted to know what the insult they saw fit to bestow upon her meant. However, when she found the word in question the anger she felt dissipated and she stared at it almost in disbelief not sure of what to think. She scanned the page looking for a similar word that might better explain or perhaps maybe she had spelled it wrong, but no, it was there clear as day.

 _Guapa_ , “Beautiful.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally going to be a longer chapter but I decided the second part would work better as its own chapter so hopefully I will be able to get it out faster than usual.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own OUAT

         As she lied in bed that night, secured by heavy blankets Emma contemplated Princess Regina, or more specifically Princess Regina’s mouth. She was unsure as to why she was focusing on the other girl’s mouth, aside from the small scar there was nothing particularly unique about it. Her lips were full and red and her pearl like teeth gently crested over them when she smiled, like the sun cresting over the hills at dawn. No, nothing special or unique about the girl whatsoever. She groaned realizing what was happening and rolled onto her stomach to bury her face in a freshly stuffed pillow, clasping her thighs together in an effort to relieve at least some of her discomfort. _Why her? Of all the women in attendance why her?_ Regina was beautiful to be sure but that could be said about many of the visiting princesses, still the fact remained that the raven haired woman did not even appear to tolerate her, let alone like her and technically it had been Regina’s cousin that had first referred to her as beautiful. Her discomfort remained until she lowered her hand past the hem of her night dress where she found slick heat awaiting her. She tried to conjure up some phantom woman who did not exist trying her best to avoid thoughts of the woman who had plagued her mind all evening. Unfortunately her efforts were for not and the image of the full lipped Quiviran and her raven black hair surrounded by the falling snow returned to her mind as she began to stroke herself. Despite feeling slightly guilty for using the unsuspecting woman for her own sexual gratification, she had never thought of a specific person before, she was finally able to climax and not long after, sleep.

 

         As she lied in bed that night, confined under heavy blankets, Regina’s heart began to race and a sense of dread overcame her. She rolled onto her stomach burying her head into the goose feather pillow in an effort to help control the too deep of breaths she was taking. On a few occasions, during one of these _episodes_ as her mother called them, she had become dizzy and fainted from the amount of oxygen she had let into her lungs. Sooner or later her mother would realize the blonde’s animosity towards her and she desperately tried to avoid thoughts of what the older woman would do when she did find out. Her mind kept replaying the interaction she had had with the blonde princess earlier that evening and each time she convinced herself that it was worse than it actually was. When Princess Emma had found her and Antonia at the stables she had appeared to be in good spirits, however, that most certainly was not the case when she left. Her cousin’s constant commentary during their short conversation seemed to anger the other girl. Regina had continuously tried to get Antonia to be quiet and stop laughing, ignoring the older girl’s goading for her to take the blonde into one of the empty stalls. Eventually though, or so she guessed, it had become evident to Emma that the two were discussing her and she stormed off, a fiery scowl painted on her face. Each time she thought of the incident her face became hotter, she tried to conjure up images of her father and Rocinante anything that brought her joy and eventually, after ten grueling minutes, the hyperventilation subsided and finally she was able to fall asleep from sheer exhaustion.

         The following morning, after an intense workout with Mulan, Emma was taking a break and placed her goblet under the ornate fountain before taking a large drink of water. She was fairly out of breath already but when she glanced out one of the windows noticing a finely dressed dark figure heading towards the stables she ceased to breathe at all. “Every morning after breakfast and every evening before dinner,” she said to herself. When Mulan turned back around to begin again her blonde student was nowhere to be found.

          The castle halls were fairly quiet and, save for a few guards, still deserted at this hour, many of the visiting royals preferring to take breakfast and mid morning tea in their private rooms. She took the same route as the evening before, being sure to pass the lavish Quiviran banner as she made her way out to the pastures. When she made it to the stables and saw the woman she had obsessed over the entire night bedecked in an expertly embroidered dark riding coat she suddenly wished she had bathed and changed before seeking Regina out, feeling wholly underdressed.

 “Princess Regina,” she greeted.

Her presence seemed to surprise the dark haired girl and she stop brushing the umber colored horse mid stroke.

 “Princess Emma,” she greeted back honestly shocked that the White Princess was still attempting to seek her out after last evening.

Suddenly unsure of herself she repeated “Princess Regina.”

The dark haired princess looked at her curiously, confused by what was happening she quirked an eyebrow at the blonde before repeating, “Princess Emma.”

Emma silently berated herself for sounding so stupid, “I’ve come to apologize for my actions the other day.”

“Have you forgotten so quickly?” She asked, but not unkindly, smiling at the blonde before returning to her brushing, “We have already had this conversation.”

“I was referring to what happened last night not what occurred with my mother. However I am still repentant for that occasion as well,” she quickly rushed out.

“Yes, well I suppose I must apologize for my cousin, she often varies from being vivacious to vexatious.”

“She sounds like my friend Alexandra,” she joked and then became serious again. “Thank you, but I jumped to conclusions about the situation, not understanding what was being said _about myself_ made me feel a bit self conscious.” She was nervous about whether or not to bring up her knowledge of the word they had been using.

Regina looked embarrassed after the blonde confirmed that she had indeed known that she and Antonia had been discussing her. “She wasn’t doing it to be rude, she just doesn’t speak anything outside of the heptarchy,” she explained.

“Really?” Emma found this peculiar, Regina had a noticeable accent but she appeared to be extremely well versed in the language. “But you seem to be so fluent.”

“Both of her parents are from Quivira,” she said giving the allusion that she was revealing something about herself by accident, just as her mother had told her.

Emma listened intently, none the wiser, reminded of her mother’s conversation with the girl on the night of the welcoming feast. Queen Snow had referred to Regina’s mother by name without prompting, she looked at Regina and compared the olive toned woman to that of her slightly darker cousin, although both were a stark contrast to herself, who only seemed to be able to obtain the color red, she thought disappointedly. These combined with the ease in which she spoke all made sense now, Regina’s mother was from the Enchanted Forest.

 “Still, I misunderstood what was happening and overreacted, to which I am sorry.” She explained, ignoring the new found information for the time being.

She nodded, “It is unfortunate that our entire association with each other has been so rife with misunderstandings.”

“I would like it if we could change that if it is at all possible?” She asked in her most sincere voice.

Regina smiled and nodded her agreement before her mother’s stern voice entered her mind telling her to vocalize her responses. “I would like that very much.”

Emma smiled at the Quiviran who in turn smiled back broadly. Once again the pearl like teeth captivating the blonde’s attention and embarrassingly enough causing a light stirring of arousal to form in her lower abdomen.

“I see you ride quite a bit. What is your favorite horse?” She quickly tried to distract herself by changing the subject.

Regina was confused by the sudden shift in conversation but was always willing to talk about her equestrian interests. “Rocinante of course,” she smiled patting the large horse on the neck, who gave a whinney of approval in return.

Emma smiled back, “No doubt, but I meant what _breed_ of horse was your favorite?"

Regina looked at the blonde for a moment before reaching up to cover Rocinante’s ears, “The Akhal-teke, their coat has a particular silken shimmer to them that makes them some of the most beautiful horses in all the world.”

Emma smiled at the dark haired princess’ passionate enthusiasm of the subject as well as the care to not slight her beloved steed. “Does he get offended easily?” She asked jokingly.

“He is quite a proud horse.” She smiled.

“Is that right,” she said reaching out to let the horse sniff her hand.

Regina watched cautiously, Rocinante at times could be temperamental towards people reaching for him, let alone strangers reaching for him, but luckily he appeared to not be bothered by the blonde’s attempts at contact with him. She was relieved to see that he then allowed Emma to scratch his muzzle without incident, on one occasion Daniel had left the stable needing eleven stitches in his left hand.

Emma smiled at the mellow horse “I’m sure he has a stable full of medals and ribbons back home.”

“Not really,” she said as her mood darkened. Emma wondering if she had, once again, done something wrong.

“If I am not being too presumptuous, I find that rather hard to believe, when I saw you on the course yesterday you…” She stopped short realizing what she was about to reveal.

“You mean when you were spying on me from the balcony?” She asked matter of factly.

Emma for her part looked like the rabbit caught by the fox, causing Regina to chuckle.

"I was not spying on you," she quickly explained. 

“Gold is a rather reflective surface dear," she smiled. "I saw the glint of the sun off your telescope."

“Prince George’s telescope actually. Alexandra and I were just heading back from the menagerie to dinner when we found him.” She replied ratting out the young boy with out giving a thought to the term of endearment the brunette had just used.

"If you say so," She quirked her eyebrow at the other girl that expressed her disbelief. 

While slightly miffed that her half truth was not believed Emma decided the action on the girls face was a pleasant one to watch.

“Not many people are too willing to challenge a member of the royal family,” she finally answered. “And when they would, well I doubt they were attempting their best.” She omitted the fact that many in her kingdom were also well aware of Cora’s powers and would not risk eliciting the woman’s anger upon themselves by besting the dangerous woman's only daughter.

Emma could not account for any occurrences in which a competition was thrown in her favor and wondered if this was common place for many of the visiting royals.

“As it goes, I much just prefer challenging myself rather than others.” She said as she began to lead Rocinante out of his stall. “When I top a previous achievement of mine I get a real rush, competing against someone ultimately leads to at least one person feeling disappointed with themselves.”

“Well then perhaps we can engage in a friendly _encouragement_ in the near future if you are not partial to competitions,” Emma said as she watched Regina mount her horse. “It will give me the opportunity to experience first hand how well you KEYvirans ride,” she said smirking at the other princess.

Regina blushed at the accentuation of the blonde’s pronunciation “I will contemplate the matter, have a good morning princess,” the brunette said before riding off.

“You as well,” she called out with a smile on her face before making her way back to the castle.

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own OUAT. With the arrival of Prince Louis, I began looking up names of different monarchies and kind of got obsessed with how long some of their names are, on average at least four, so I decided that there was no way I was going to have this story go on with out writing out someone's full name.

 

 

**20 years earlier**

 

**The Enchanted Forest**

 

        Snow White was taking a leisurely stroll through the woods when suddenly she realized she was unsure of where she was at. She had not heeded her father’s words when he warned her to take a guard with her and now she had been swinging helplessly from a tall tree branch for the last ten minutes. Struggling in vain to free herself she nervously contemplated what type of ruffian had set a trap that was large enough to catch a person. She received her answer when out of the shadows a shaggy haired man approached her laughing. She stiffened in fear for a moment until she realized the laughter was of amusement and held no hint of cruelty.

“I would remove that charming smirk of yours if I were you, capturing a princess is a capital offense.”

“A princess you say and here I thought I was capturing wolves,” he said continuing to smile.

“Do you throw wolves into trees often?”

“It is the best way to keep them from my birthing flock without killing them as well. Plus I can see all the traps from my farm at this height, that way they aren’t hanging up there all day.”

“How noble of you,” she said sarcastically. “Now get me down!”

David watched the fiery woman struggle for freedom deciding in that moment that he liked her. “And what shall I get for rescuing you? Gold, jewels...a kiss?”

Snow glared at the man unwilling to believe she was being spoken to in such a manner, common folk simply lacked refinement.

“Relax,” he said seeing her glare and smiling at her again. “I’ll get you down.” He climbed up the tree shimmying towards the rope before dragging a blade across its twine and slowly lowering the captured woman to the ground careful not to lose hold of her.

“So now that I have rescued you, do I get my kiss?” He asked while making his way back down the tree. Unfortunately one of the branches was unable to hold his weight and with a sudden crack he was plummeting towards the earth. Snow, in a panic, covered her eyes with her hands so she would not see the man hit the ground and when she removed them, the arrogant shepherd lied motionless. Carefully moving towards him she rolled the man onto his back, being this close to him she realized that he was not much older than her own seventeen years. He had a cut on his chin and did not appear to be breathing, she hurriedly placed her ear to his chest, there was still a steady heartbeat. Without sparing another moment she placed her lips to his and breathed into his mouth filling his lungs with air and needing to repeat the action two more times before she finally, and to her relief, received a response. The man propped himself up on his elbows in a daze at first when they locked eyes with each other and in that moment it was as if the clouds parted, all things in the world made sense, and a calmness filled them both.

Confused by the sudden feelings and unsure of what else to say to the man, she said the first thing that came to her mind, “That better not have been a trick to get me to kiss you.”

In response he smiled that charming smile, plucking a small white Snowbell from the ground he said, “I’m David.”

“Snow White.” She replied taking the flower he offered.

“Well Snow White, it is an honor to be rescued by you.”

 

**Quivira**

 

        After the wet nurse had finished with her, Regina had been placed in her crib for a nap and not twenty minutes later the most recent addition to the royal line began to cry out. Dismissing one of the nannies the inexperienced father took the squalling little life into his arms and rested her against his chest, puzzled on what he was supposed to do, he pressed her ear above his heart hoping that the rhythm of its beat would be calming to the little girl.

“Don’t cry beautiful one,” he whispered taking the opportunity to start getting her used to his voice. “Your papi is here.”

 As she fell back asleep, Henry lied on the floor in a most unprince like manner smiling at the little tufts of pitch black hair and wondering how anyone could be so impossibly tiny. He knew his brothers were less involved with their daughters, choosing instead to focus on their sons, but the man could not understand how anyone could look at their newborn child, male or female, and not want to hold them. Cora seemed happy about the child but she did not seem to possess the same look in her eyes that he had when gazing at Regina or the one his sister in law seemed to have when looking at Antonia. Since the birth of their first child, Cora would routinely lock herself away, sleeping for hours on end and appeared to be only vaguely interested in their daughter. He hoped that whatever it was that was afflicting his wife would quickly pass before he was to leave for Avalon on business. Being a marriage of financial convenience Henry was not under the impression that Cora would ever truly love him and to be honest he was not quite certain he himself would ever attain such feelings towards the woman either, but he had been optimistic that at least something would change with Regina’s arrival, and it had. Cora may not be his true love but he was certain that their daughter was and that was enough for him.

 

**Present Day**

 

**Quivira, one of seven kingdoms in the El Doradon Empire, known as the Seven Cities of Gold. The House of Amidio has reigned over the kingdom of Quivira for the last seven generations and is currently held by King Xavier Rolando Estavan Odalis Amidio II who ascended the throne in the second season of his forty seventh year.** Emma sat in the library late into the morning reading a fairly recent leather bound copy of the realm almanac trying to find out more about the dark haired princess, or at least something of substance to talk about with her. The blonde looked at the small hand copied portrait of a stern looking man in his coronation outfit and tried to find any resemblance to Regina but could see none. She turned the page to a more detailed portrait of five men, Xavier I’s sons, and once again found the stern looking man staring back at her, only this time in his prime. Henry, that was the name Regina had used while in her mother’s chambers that first night. She scanned the names scrawled under the image and on the far right the name Prince Enrique was listed, she assumed this to be Prince _Henry,_ and glanced back up to the picture to better inspect the man. He was handsome and she could detect just the slightest of smiles surrounded by strong expressionless faces, unlike in her uncle, Emma could see a small amount of Regina shining through this man but she was not quite sure where exactly it was coming from.

“What are you reading?” An unexpected voice asked.

Caught by surprise, Emma quickly shut the book to hide its contents from the visitor. “What are you doing here?” She asked her brother, knowing he preferred to watch actors perform the written word more than reading them himself.

“Mother sent me to find you? She wants our help with the solstice preparations.”

Emma sighed, unable to refuse neither her mother nor her sovereign the blonde reluctantly put the book back on its shelf and mentally reminded herself to come back for it later.

“Why were you reading an almanac,” the younger White asked knowing that it laid outside of his older sister’s usual reading habits.

“Now that I am officially taking the throne after mother it is important for me to be on top of current events and trends throughout several kingdoms, not just ours,” she lied to the boy. “You should as well, you want the other leaders to see that you possess at least some semblance of intelligence don’t you?”

Benjamin glared at his sister and tried to think of a comeback but, unfortunately, he was unable to do so in an appropriate span of time and sulkily continued to follow the older blonde. He would find out what she was hiding the boy assured himself.

        Queen Snow easily moved about her castle’s ballroom as she dictated to party planners and servants what exactly she wanted her theme for the celebrations of the solstice to be. Emma, ever the dutiful heir, followed quietly behind her mother offering suggestions when asked. Her stomach rumbled and she instantly became envious of Benjamin who instead was joining their father as he chose menu options, she supposed that this was karma’s response to her earlier quip about him. It was well past mid afternoon and the idea of being surrounded by dozens of food samples was much preferable to that of choosing fabrics and centerpieces. As well as deciding on the best way to incorporate their guests own contributions to the affair, after all, an Agrabahan fire breather could hardly perform next to an ice sculpture from Arendelle.

“Which do you think Emma?”

“What,” Emma asked being pulled from her thoughts.

“I asked, which do you think?” The queen enquired, holding out a Crocus and a Hellebore for her daughter’s inspection.

The young blonde indulged her mother and examined the two flowers for a few more moments than needed, having already made her decision the moment she set her sight on them. “The Crocus mother,” she answered knowing that the cool tones of the purple and blue petals would work better with the Snowbells that were forever present at these functions. Snowbells, her mother and father’s wedding flower and a symbol of their love, were grown specially all year round so the White palaces would never have to go without them. The blonde’s mind once again began to wander and she wondered if she would ever be as sentimental as her mother was about a mere flower.

 

        Meanwhile in a separate wing of the palace, Regina sat at her desk blankly staring at an equally blank piece of parchment quill in hand, not quite sure where to start. So she began as all letters begin and wrote...

 

**Dear Papi,**

 

**Since my departure, every morning I awake and for a few short moments I believe I am home, aside from when I am atop Rocinante those are the happiest moments of my day. The Enchanted Forest is beautiful but I can not bring myself to enjoy this visit knowing what is being expected of me and the ache to return to Quivira and its clear blue shores grows stronger everyday. Princess Emma appears to have at least taken a platonic interest in me and we have made tentative plans to go riding with one another; still, the few moments I have spent with the royal family has made the situation all the more real and has made it harder to continue with my actions. I wish you had been able to join us on this venture as my** **_episodes_ ** **seem to be occurring with increasing frequency, I try to think of your voice but it is not the same. As for mother, while here she has shown no signs of curtailing her magical abilities when acting as disciplinarian to me but she does appear to have become more careful of whom she is practicing in front of. I worry sometimes what will happen to our family if the wrong person sees her performing dark magic.**

**With Love,**

**Regina**

 

        Regina carefully folded the parchment and placed it in an envelope before sealing it with a bit of wax. She traced the meticulous lettering on the front before giving it a final farewell kiss and deftly tossed it into the room’s hearth. She watched making sure that the letter was relegated to nothing more than a pile of ash before rising to join her mother for lunch.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own OUAT

After Breakfast Cora let herself into Regina’s empty room, her daughter having already made her way to the stables for the morning. Knowing that the younger woman would not return until mid morning tea, not that she would concern herself with whether or not Regina knew what she was doing, she began searching through her progeny’s possessions. As she looked about the room making sure that nothing was out of place and ensuring that the servants were not lax in their cleaning duties she came across a sheet of parchment atop the desk and though blank it possessed the imprintation of a sheet that had once laid above it. Cora searched the room carefully, Regina had long since learned not to keep a diary in her presence but that clearly did not stop her from writing. Her eyes finally fell on the room’s hearth, the fire had burned down at the very least an hour ago but with a wave of her hand the flames burst back into life. The ash that once laid on the stone floor rose above the flames quickly forming into a black rectangle that floated towards her outstretched hand and with a second wave the folded parchment was returned to its original form. She scanned over the carefully penned letter, once again faced with the evidence of her husband’s coddling of her daughter, referring to both in her mind as if they were possessions. She quickly folded the letter and pocketed it, her annoyance at the Regina’s actions increasing, knowing that once again she would have to intervene on her daughter’s behalf. She left the girl’s chambers, contemplating the past, specifically the last time she had been in these lands, as well as the man she knew to be at this very moment locked away in the castle’s dungeon. Deciding that she would soon have to pay her former mentor a visit and with that thought she returned to her own quarters.

 

That morning, Johanna had fixed her hair into a long braid down her back and after rummaging through her wardrobe for nearly forty five minutes Emma finally decided on her favorite red leather riding coat. Intent on making her way to the guest stables with hopes of joining Princess Regina for her morning ride. It was only when making her final inspections while gazing at her reflection in her mirror did she suddenly become uneasy, something was wrong but she could not quite place the feeling. She stretched her arm out and allowed her fingers to run along the smooth reflective surface before getting up close and carefully eyeing the object, but there was nothing. Was she nervous, thought Emma, was that what this feeling was? The blonde could count the number of times she had been truly nervous on one hand, none of which ever included a social interaction. Not even the time Pinocchio had sent a  _ lady of the evening  _ to her quarters, which she silently admitted herself, had been more of a shock than anything. She shrugged off her discomfort and decided to stop over at Alexandra's rooms for final confirmation on her appearance, making a quick detour to the storeroom for some apples first. When she arrived at her friend’s living space, Emma was quickly complimented and assured, numerous times, that she looked lovely.

“Do you like this girl?” Alexandra asked, a knowing smile beginning to form on her lips.

Long ago Emma learned that she could not keep anything from Alexandra, “She called me beautiful, well technically it was her cousin first, but still she said it too.”

The younger blonde’s smile broadened. “And why shouldn't she think you are beautiful? Just look at yourself,” she said turning the older blonde around to look at her reflection in the mirror.

Emma was grateful when she realized that the nervous unease that she had felt when gazing into her own mirror was no longer present and hoped that meant she was beginning to relax.

“What do you think we should talk about? All I know so far is that her uncle is the king and that she likes horses,” Emma said, wishing she had paid more attention to her mother’s conversation with the dark haired girl. “The almanac mentioned Quivira has rich soil deposits, but annual crop cultivation hardly makes for stimulating conversation.”

“Definitely don't mention that you were researching her.”

“I wasn't researching her.”

Alexandra rolled her eyes at the other girl.

“Well maybe I was a little, but it's not like I was reading her diary or having her followed.”

Alexandra smiled again, but let her friend have the win.

Emma looked out the window noticing the Sun’s position, “It's getting late. I should go,” she said smoothing out the creases in her jacket one last time. “Are you sure I look okay?”

“You look perfect,” Alexandra said giving the other girl a kiss on the cheek for good luck before shooing her out the door.

 

Emma watched patiently as Princess Regina weaved Rocinante through numerous poles on the course, not wanting to announce her presence for fear of startling the horse. When the dark haired princess did finally notice Emma she directed the large steed towards the blonde stopping only a few inches from her. 

“Princess Emma,” she greeted.

“Princess Regina,” she greeted back. “I trust you are having a pleasant morning?”

“I am, thank you. What brings you out to the course today,” she asked noting that Emma was without a horse.

“You actually.” The surprise showed on the foreign princess’s face and Emma decided to elaborate. “That encouragement we were talking about, I thought maybe I could take you to my family’s stable and introduce you to my favorite horse. There is a bag of Red Delicious in it for Rocinante if you agree.” She had practiced that line on the way over and hoped that it sounded nonchalant.

“That sounds nice,” Regina smiled despite the nervous knot that was beginning to form in the pit of her stomach. 

Emma and Regina made their way to the royal stables, the blonde was talking about something but Regina was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to realize it. The other day when they had discussed meeting up with each other she had not anticipated that it would be this soon and thus had no time to prepare. She only hoped she would not say anything stupid and that a similar instance of instinct, like the one she had experienced with Queen Snow, would soon kick in. Thankfully, once Princess Emma opened the stable doors she was again in her comfort zone, surrounded by the gentle creatures’ soft neighing and occasional stomping. 

Emma made a clicking noise, alerting one large red mount to her presence and he quickly greeted her. “This is Kholstomer,” she said patting the large horse on the neck before pulling a knife from her boot and an apple from the bag she had been carrying. Regina smiled as she watched him eagerly accept the fruit that was offered. “Don't worry, he's very friendly,” she said holding out the other slice of apple to Regina.

“This is a different horse than the one you were riding the other day.” She noted curiously before stretching out her hand and offering him the second slice of apple.

“That was Artax, he was one of King Thomas’s horses, the fastest of his horses as a matter of fact,” she said recalling how Rocinante easily overtook the Glass Kingdom's prized steed. 

The Quiviran horse in question made a loud baying noise and both princesses turned to inspect the horse that had been hitched just outside the stable. He gazed expectantly at them either jealous of the attention that was being paid to the red horse or the apple he was gifted.

Satisfied that nothing serious had happened they turned their attention back to Kholstomer. “I've been working with him for the past nine years,” she said unlatching the door and guiding him out of the stall. “I think he is just the horse to take on your Rocinante.”

Regina stopped her admiration of the horse with a grimace “I told you I do not like competitions,” she stated firmly.

“I know but I thought we decided....” when Emma had discussed the possibility of a race while on the way to the stable she had received no indication that the brunette was adverse to the idea. She had hoped that once she and the other girl got out onto the course together the princess would realize how much fun challenging someone else could be. Had she missed some sort of signal hidden within the other girl’s silence? She quickly tried to counter her miss step and offered to take the other girl on a tour of the castle grounds instead, to which Regina, thankfully, agreed to. 

They fell into easy conversation, talking of nothing of particular importance and for the next three hours the two made their way around the entire White Palace grounds. Emma showed her the lake that she and her brother would go ice fishing at, the oak tree she had fallen out of when she was seven that had resulted in a broken leg and two months worth of an overprotective Snow coddling her. While Regina talked about what she liked to do in her spare time, riding mostly. She also learned that the other girl enjoyed gardening, the blonde reminding herself to keep her mouth shut about rich soil deposits, and though she did not grow Red Delicious she had a large Honeycrisp tree that had been a gift from her father after he returned from a trip to Avalon. Antonia played an important role in many of the dark haired girl’s anecdotes, reminding Emma about their interaction in the stables only a few days prior. Emma’s mind went back and forth about whether or not to bring up the guapa incident. On the one hand it would definitely change this friendly outing into something different, possibly with more meaning. While on the other hand it might be too soon to bring it up and it could possibly make the other girl skittish around her. 

As the Sun reached its highest point in the day they made their way back to the guest stables. They placed Rocinante in his temporary home and Emma retrieved a water skin and to goblets for them, deciding to nip the conversation in the bud as she handed the other girl her drink.

“Regina?” She asked, wanting to see if the other girl would correct her familiar casual manner.

“Yes,” she replied, either not noticing or not caring that Emma had referred to her without title.

“May I ask, what was it your cousin was saying about me that day in the stable?” She asked hoping that Regina would bring up what she already knew.

Regina turned a shade reminiscent of the apple she had given Rocinante earlier that morning and raised her cup higher in an effort to hide her embarrassment before replying, “She was merely commenting on how cold the weather here is.”

Emma gave her a look that let the brunette know that she was not quite believed.

She looked away not able to meet the blonde’s eyes.“And the sheerness of your shirt,” she said becoming an even brighter shade of red.

Realizing what the other girl was hinting at Emma became an equal shade of red, but smiled and laughed at her own embarrassment, causing the other girl to smile and laugh as well.

Suddenly though Regina’s smile fell from her face and she stiffened, completely losing her relaxed demeanor. Emma marveled at how in only a few short moments Regina had become the rigid and stern girl she had first been introduced to that night in her mother’s sitting room. Before she had the chance to ask what was wrong she realized that they were no longer alone. 

“Mother,” the brunette greeted, attempting to sound as normal as possible.

“Regina.”


End file.
